I gave my son a 2003 525i a while ago. While he is enthusiastic about BMW's, he is still learning the art of maintenance. He called me a few days ago about a red "BRAKE" light on the lower right side of his dash. When he brought it in to my dealership (non-BMW but German), I noticed a "check brake lining" message on the dash display. I had a tech swap the rear pads and sensor and do a proper bleed/flush of the brake system. The front brakes were serviced earlier this year. The car stops very well now. My questions - Do I need to go buy a reset tool to turn off the lights/message? Any other reliable methods? Should the light/message reset itself? I have an old Peake reset tool for my E28/E30/E34 vehicles but not any E39 specific tools. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Myron M. Ft Worth, TX
Turn on the ignition but do not start the car, and leave it on for approximately two minutes. That should reset the light. I'm not 100% sure this works on an E39 but it is the correct procedure for an E46 of the same vintage--they may be similar and it costs nothing to try.
